“They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan”
They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng and Benjamin Ajak with Judy A. Bernstein
In the introduction, Judy Bernstein compares the situation that the three ‘lost boys’ of this title have been through as analogous to that of the novel Lord of the Flies. I liked this because you are reading this book for your English II Honors class and Lord of the Flies is required reading during the sophomore year. Once you have read both of these books, I think you’ll have great class discussions on the ideas of whether individuals need to be governed—whether they behave differently if they know that there is no policeman (or policewoman) on the corner, keeping them in line.
The three young men who tell their stories here are brothers and a cousin from ‘Dinka Land’ in the Sudan. They walked a 1,000 mile journey to the safety of a refugee camp in Kenya. (The map in the book is very helpful.) One of the first things that the lost boys did when they came to the United States (to San Diego, CA) was buy journals and write their stories. They begin with ordinary life in their villages—coming-of-age rituals of being circumcised, daily meals, caring for animals, the relationships between husbands and wives. As rumors of war spread, the boys are instructed on how to hide when the government soldiers come through the village. Eventually, the villages are raided and the boys lose track of their parents and other family members. They are on their own, trying to make it to safety.
Their trips—both together and separately, in the company of soldiers or with groups of similar lost boys—are circuitous. As the reader, I wondered about the long-term effects of their having witnessed so much death—murder, kids stepping on land mines, bombs going off in other kids’ hands. I wonder how they survived starvation and death from lack of water on numerous occasions. I also thought that, at your age, you may not have heard of some of the more awful things the book addresses, such as female circumcision.
If you are very moved by this book, you may enjoy reading A Long Way Gone, which I’ve reviewed on this blog. The boy in that book did not escape the rebel soldiers (as the three in this book managed to do), so his story is a bit different. He is forced to become a soldier as a mere child and to brutally murder villagers. The veteran soldiers keep him and other boys drugged all the time, so that they don’t have a real awareness of what they are doing.
Both books give us an idea of what war is really like when it is happening in your own backyard.
Add comment May 29, 2010
“Fast Food Nation”
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Though I’d read several books about food in the last few years, I missed this one. So when it came up as a choice for summer reading in the English II Honors class, I thought I’d try it as well.
Fast Food Nation follows a tradition of muckraking journalism—it takes a problem, reports on it in depth, and hopes that through education, people will come together and demand change. I recommend reading the paperback edition because there is a section about the blowback from the original book. It made some very powerful people very angry. Also—don’t let the length of the book scare you. The last 100 pages are just the notes and bibliography.
Fast Food Nation begins by making interesting connections between the American Dreams of Walt Disney and Ray Kroc, one of the founders (the man who started the franchise we know today) of McDonald’s and goes on to discuss those of Carl Karcher (founder of Carl’s Jr.). Schlosser shows the darker side of these men as well as the energy, hard work, and vision that each needed to make his dream come true. (If your understanding of Walt Disney is completely rosy, and you are interested, you can find documentation of the other side in any biography written in the last 15 years—his involvement in fast food in minor. So FFN doesn’t spend too much time on him.)
Well, unfortunately, some big dreams turn into nightmares, and fast food dreams came to cause many problems across the nation. As McDonald’s and Ronald McDonald became the most recognized brand and character across the country, Americans ate more and more fast food, becoming fatter and fatter—and thus unhealthy in many ways. Schlosser discusses some of the social forces that are involved as well—with both parents working outside the home, often no one feels like cooking.
The sections of the book on teenage employees and how easy it is to create an uneducated, low-wage, benefits-free work force are interesting, as is the successful efforts of McDonald’s to keep workers from unionizing, and fast food employers’ ability to get millions of dollars in federal funds (yeah, taxpayers’ money) to train their workers while mechanizing jobs so that no training is necessary. There’s also the outrage of vegetarians and Hindu people over beef stock in French fires (it makes them taste better) as well as how fast food production has eliminated that American icon, the cowboy on the range. But the part of the book that really had people upset—that caused attacks on Schlosser’s credibility—was the section on the meat-packing industry. This feels like a flashback to The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. (A comparison of the two books would make a great class project.)
The speed with which cattle are killed and processed has risen exponentially. A job that once required the skill of a butcher is done in assembly-line fashion. Large meat-packing corporations advertise for workers in Mexico, who come to the jobs (legally or illegally). They have no health insurance, and the injury rate is very high. Injured workers are ‘kicked to the curb’ and new ones replace them. Reading this section of the book makes you think that working in meat packing must be one of the worst jobs in the world. But the part that makes you sick is that, due to the speed and lack of training in butchering, when cattle are disemboweled, feces sprays on the meat which is later ground in and arrives in your fast food hamburgers. That’s one reason why E. coli started breaking out, leading to illness and death. In addition, sick cows are killed, dirty meat and blood from the floor is mixed in with the final product. While this section of the book is stomach-turning, it’s also riveting—you can’t stop reading.
And there’s a great lesson. Although people have tried through government to pass laws to change the industry (pretty unsuccessfully—meat packers donate a lot of money to conservative legislators, and one who was vital to these decisions at the time the book was written was married to a woman on the board of the largest meat packer in the world), what has worked much better is to stop eating at fast food places. When business declines, they make changes to bring it back.
Add comment May 25, 2010
“Shakespeare Bats Cleanup”
Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge
Mrs. Martin recommended this to me and asked me about the last entry—some students who read the book saw some hidden meanings there. Well—hidden meaning? That was intriguing enough to get me to read. And now I want to recommend this book to you—it is so short, it’ll take you about an hour to read. And yet it deals with so much.
Kevin is fourteen. He’s a great first baseman and baseball is his joy, but when he gets mono, he has to stay home in bed. His father gives him a journal to pass the time, and he decides to write a few poems to deal with the break-up with a girlfriend and more importantly, with his mother’s death. What’s fun is that he writes poems about these things—a sonnet, a ballad, a pastoral, a haiku (OK, that one is funny), blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), couplets, a sestina—but you just smoothly read through these poems without knowing what he’s doing. What you do know is that through these forms, Kevin does a better job of expressing his emotions. Instead of saying, “I’m bummed that my mom died,” his images and language show you what his mother was like and why he misses her so much.
So, yeah—read it. As for the hidden meaning? I didn’t get it, but if you do, let me know!
Add comment May 24, 2010
“Into Thin Air”
Much has been written about Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and I can’t say anything new, but that, like every reviewer, I thought it was a great book. I’m glad that it’s one of the options for your summer reading.
As you know (or will know when you finish the book), Krakauer climbed Mt. Everest in 1996—at the very time that one of the worst killing-storms hit the mountain. His party (as well as another linked to a famous guide) was one of the most affected in a storm that left five climbers dead and one–who appeared dead–very frostbitten, losing his hand and parts of his face.
Though it’s been awhile since I read the book, three things have stayed with me. The first is the deep irony of the circumstances—that Krakauer hoped to show how, with the right guide and enough money, these days just about anyone could climb the much commercialized Everest. Yet two of the five people who died in the storm of the day Krakauer descended the peak were guides Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, the world’s best. And so nature can’t be controlled, no matter what we believe. The second thing that has remained with me over the years is how an oxygen-deprived brain can cause people to make terrible decisions, ones that put their own and others’ lives at risk. And last, though I can’t say it was surprising, is the sadness of learning that climbers, who were very close to their long-time goal of climbing Everest, left others to die because helping them would have meant that they had to turn away from the peak and not ‘summit.’
So—what most affected you?
Add comment May 18, 2010
“Telling”
Telling by Marilyn Reynolds
The novel begins with twelve-year-old Cassie meeting her new neighbors, the Sloans, and agreeing to baby-sit their children. Each time Cassie baby-sits, Fred Sloan makes a sexual advance toward her, progressively becoming more obvious and direct. In the beginning, Cassie doesn’t tell anyone, but instead tries to beg off the baby-sitting jobs. Unfortunately, Cassie’s mother often says ‘yes’ for her, thinking that Cassie should enjoy making the money.
When Cassie finally tells her older cousin, the two go to baby-sit together. Cassie only baby-sits alone when Fred is out for his bowling night and will be home later than Angie. One night this plan backfires and Fred catches Cassie alone. He forces kisses upon her and promises he won’t hurt her. She freezes in fear. Afterward, she won’t go out. Once the truth comes to light, not all adults believe Cassie –and Fred and his wife won’t admit what happens. The novel continues with the effects of the truth upon both families and the danger that Cassie is in while she is ‘telling.’
We just got two copies of this book for our ‘SSR’ library in the textbook room at COHS. I thought it was realistic and recommend it. Ask in the textbook room if you’d like to read it.
Add comment May 18, 2010
“Super Freakonomics”
Maybe I shouldn’t do this so soon after commenting on Freakonomics, but I just loved this one, too. Super Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, like its predecessor, has the reader looking at trade, data and economic transactions in a new way. Chapters include:
- How is a Street Prostitute like a Department Store Santa?: In which we explore the cost of being a woman.
- Why Should Suicide Bombers Buy Life Insurance: in which we discuss compelling aspects of birth and death, though primarily death.
- Unbelievable Stories about Apathy and Altruism: in which people are revealed to be less good than previously thought, and also less bad. (This was my favorite chapter!)
- The Fix is In—and It’s Cheap and Simple: in which big, seemingly intractable problems are solved in surprising ways.
- What Do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo Have in Common: in which we take a cool, hard look at global warming.
- Monkeys are People Too.
When you have an assignment for outside reading in your econ class, this is another fun choice.
Add comment April 1, 2010
“Graceling”
As a fantasy book for teens, especially for girls, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, is nearly perfect. The heroine, Katsa, has just the kind of power in life that girls often dream about. (The first time a man tries to grope her, she kills him effortlessly.) Though she is spirited, strong, good and able to make her own decisions, men still find her very attractive and one very beautiful man is more than willing to sacrifice himself for her—a reversal of the roles we commonly experience in real life.
In Katsa’s world there are people called Gracelings who have special powers. They can be identified by the fact that they have two different colored eyes (Kasta’s are blue and green). Sometimes it takes awhile before they find out what their special grace is. Often they are employed by the kings in their seven kingdoms. Katsa has the misfortune of being the niece of the ruthless King Randa. When he finds out that her grace gives her the ability to kill or hurt anyone without being harmed herself, he uses her as a sort of henchman. She does his bidding, but as she comes of age, she also comes into her own power. She creates a secret council which works against Randa’s evil influence and later she turns away him altogether.
Enter Po, a graceling prince with one eye silver and one eye gold. He, too, is an excellent fighter. The two work together to save a young princess. They have constant battles of wills, yet Po (sigh deeply here) understands all of Katsa’s moods and is willing to do just about anything to be her true love. Unlike many such fantasy stories, in Graceling, Katsa doesn’t want to be under the command of a man, and that means she refuses to marry, taking Po as a lover.
My real criticism of the book is that it could have been much shorter, as the writing is redundant. Characters will have conversations—You don’t love me—yes I do—followed by a summary of the conversation—she felt that he didn’t love her, but he said that he did. Not only does this happen again and again, but it happens again and again on the same topic—you don’t love me ‘round five’ and the fifth round summary. However, the up side of this is that it adds to the total number of pages in the book, so you can impress your teacher by reading 475 pages—and you can do it quickly without having to pay too much attention because if you miss one train, it’ll be coming around again very soon.
This is a super-popular book, one of YALSA’s top ten of 2009. COHS students who’ve read it love it, and I’m guessing you will, too.
Add comment April 1, 2010
“Freakonomics”
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
When your econ teacher assigns some outside reading, this is the book to grab. It’s entertaining as well as informative. Its authors are a well-respected economist (as you’ll learn from your reading, back in 2003, Levitt received the Clark Medal as the best economist under 40) and a journalist who writes for some great publications including The New York Times and The New Yorker. Together, they look at some very odd issues and apply the science of economics to them. The result is written in a style that anyone can understand and that makes the subject fun. I mean it’s really a wacky book.
Freakonomics asks questions such as: What do school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? (Given the right incentives, these people, known for integrity, will cheat). What does the legalization of abortion in the U.S. have to do with declining crime rates? (This discussion is quite politically incorrect and sadly enlightening.) Why do drug dealers still live with their mothers? (Unless they are on the top of their business pyramid, they don’t make enough money to move out–but drug dealing is a ‘glamour’ job like being a movie star. Everyone dreams of making it to the top.) What can parents do to make their children smart and successful? (Sadly, everything they can do must be done long before they become pregnant or have children. So forget Baby Einstein.) Do first names help or hinder children in being successful? (The names that successful people give their children are later popular with less successful parents, and they don’t alter lives very much.) How are member of the Ku Klux Klan like real estate agents? (When they’re looking out for number one, don’t get the idea that it’s you.) What kind of profile on a dating service gets results?
In Freakonomics, you’ll learn that incentives matter—and how odd some incentives are; that the phrase ‘conventional wisdom’ was never meant to indicate that it was ‘smart’ or ‘right’ (and it still isn’t most of the time). The authors tell us that there’s no unifying theme in this book, and that turns out to be true. Reading it is just a chance to look at economics in a new way and to turn some old assumptions upside down. Lots of fun—and it just meets that 200 page requirement, so it’s a quick red. Come check it out.
P.S.—The authors wrote another book—Superfreakonomics. I haven’t read it yet, but I bet it would make another great outside reading book for econ class.
Add comment March 2, 2010
“Beautiful Boy” and “Tweak”
“It hurts so bad that I cannot save him, protect him, keep him out of harm’s way, shield him from
pain. What good are fathers if not for these things?” Thomas Lynch, “The Way We Are”
David Sheff begins Beautiful Boy with this quote. The fact that he can’t save his son Nic, from his addiction to meth doesn’t stop him from trying again and again, doesn’t stop him from blaming himself for any and every mistake, small or large, that he made in raising Nic, doesn’t keep him from the intense research about meth addiction that informs this memoir.
To say I was riveted from page one is not hyperbole. I wanted so badly for everything to get better, for Nic to wake up and see what his addiction was doing to his family, to him. But as a meth addict this wasn’t even possible for Nic. The research tells you why and Sheff explains it. It seems the best possible hope to stop meth addiction is never to start, not once. If this is hard for you to believe, if this just seems like the sort of fairy tale that teachers tell, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. And—if you are suffering because someone in your family is an addict—if a parent, brother or sister is lying, stealing your money, breaking into your house or your room, promising to do better but never acting on that promise—YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. It will reinforce the “three C’s of Al-Anon” for you: you didn’t cause it, you can’t control it and you can’t cure it. One focus of this book is to help addicts’ family members to stop being ‘addicted to addiction’—to work on living their own lives.
Beautiful Boy is as much a story about relapse as it is about anything. As it opens, Nic returns from college very excited to see his family, his little brother and sister. But he’s relapsed into crystal meth addiction and life explodes. From here, we track back to look at the course of Nic’s addiction. David Sheff, as Nic’s father, will blame himself about so many things: his divorce from his first wife, his unconventional raising of Nic, the fact that he did drugs himself when he was young. Yet to the reader—who will acknowledge that Nic’s joint-custody life must be lousy because it requires him to jockey between the Bay Area (San Francisco) and Los Angeles—parts of Nic’s childhood seem ideal. He is allowed so much creativity; he lives with his father, step-mother, sister and brother in one of the most beautiful, desirable neighborhoods in the country (in Marin County); his step-mother is an artist and encourages Nic’s own artistic skills. He is not only smart and well-loved by his teachers at his exclusive private school—he’s an agile athlete too, and has the time and money to surf. His father joins him and takes the kind of interest in Nic’s activities that most kids only dream about.
How does all this turn out so terribly wrong? Nic experiments with alcohol and marijuana in middle school. From there, he moves on to harder drugs. After going away to Paris as an exchange student, he not only comes home with an ulcer, but has become an addict. His many efforts at rehab fail over and over in a heartbreaking cycle of addiction and sobriety. He is depressed. He uses up his health insurance allowance for rehab and then his parents dive into their bank accounts. Meanwhile, David Sheff, the father, has a brain hemorrhage and nearly dies. It seems he’s going to have to let go or he won’t be around to raise his younger children. Yet even his father’s near death doesn’t stop Nic’s addiction. He takes up with a girlfriend who shoots meth and speedballs with him.
Since Sheff has done so much research, he will tell the reader how meth burns away nerve endings and wipes out the brain’s dopamine (a neurotransmitter responsible for feeling good, for feeling pleasure); how addicts cough up the lining of their lungs. He points out the fact that if the body and mind are to heal, the addict must be sober for two years. Nic is sober once for eighteen months and relapses; then again for almost two years and relapses.
Tweak is Nic Sheff’s telling of his own tale, but he covers a shorter time period than his father does in Beautiful Boy. Tweak is a young adult book (it’s meant to be read by teens), and it covers some pretty scary territory. As a crystal meth addict, Nic has ‘turned tricks’ for drug money; he gets an infection from shooting up and nearly has his arm amputated. It’s tough to read about someone destroying himself—especially if you’ve read Beautiful Boy first and are thinking of Nic as his father portrays him. However, Nic’s story might be the incentive you need to bolter yourself against peer pressure, to reject a life in ruins.
Add comment February 25, 2010
